UK pupils improve globally in reading and maths
The UK has climbed the charts of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Schoolchildren in the UK have climbed the global rankings in reading, science and maths since 2010, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores.
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British teens place at 11th and ninth amongst their OECD peers for reading and maths, climbing up from 20th and 22nd in 2009. Science has stayed at 11th.
When Michael Gove became education secretary in 2010, the country’s Pisa scores were at an all-time low.
Between 2000 and 2009, England dropped down the rankings table from 7th to 25th for reading, 8th to 27th in maths, and 4th to 16th in science.
The UK was being fast overtaken by European countries including Poland, Iceland and Norway, and Gove used this data to push for reform.
In his first few months in office, Gove encouraged schools to switch to academy status, granting them autonomy from local authorities.
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Gove rolled out the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), as well as national curriculum reforms, to push English, history and literature.
A decade on from those changes, the UK’s 15-year-olds have climbed the charts. In reading and maths, the country places above others, including Germany and France.
However, what may seem like a win for the UK disguises a more complex reality. What at first seems like an improvement when compared with international averages actually obscures a decline in national education attainment.
Actual scores for reading, maths and science have barely risen, mirroring a decline in the OECD average.
When compared with 2009, the latest figures for science have dropped 14 points, maths has dropped by three and reading has stayed the same.
Declining OECD peers have seen the UK’s schools climb up the rankings. The OECD attributes its decline globally to Covid, evidenced by the UK’s decline in maths and reading scores in 2022. Collectively, this has affected the ability of the Pisa scores to act as an accurate barometer.
UK students have the second-lowest average life satisfaction of 15-year-olds across all OECD countries, the Education Policy Institute reported.
Only one-third of young people say they enjoy reading, dropping from more than 50 per cent in 2005, and last year, just 19 per cent said they read daily, marking the lowest figure since 2005.